Blackwater mercenaries still getting government deals
The North Carolina mercenary firm once called Blackwater is still getting lucrative government contracts. The CIA recently awarded Xe Services, the massive guns for hire company run by former Navy…
GOP kills unemployment aid extension
Republicans on Thursday defeated Democrats’ showcase election-year jobs bill, including an extension of weekly unemployment benefits for millions of people out of work more than six months. The 57-41 vote…
Palin violated law with legal defense fund
An investigator for the Alaska Personnel Board says a legal defense fund set up for Sarah Palin when she was governor was illegal. Investigator Timothy Petumenos said Thursday the Alaska…
Obama’s only choice
President Barack Obama had little choice. Already weakened by the seemingly insolvable Gulf oil spill and his party’s dicey prospects in the coming congressional election, Obama could not afford to…
Patraeus choice is popular
America’s Afghan and international allies embraced the choice of Gen. David Petraeus to run the war in Afghanistan, hoping the architect of the Iraq surge will seamlessly pursue the strategy…
Oil spill drenches Obama’s approval rating
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill piled pressure on Barack Obama on Thursday as the hurricane season closed in and voters angry at his crisis management hammered the president in…
GOP set to keep blocking job benefits extension
A Republican filibuster appears increasingly likely to kill long-sought legislation extending jobless benefits and a host of other spending and tax measures, despite a new round of cuts to the…
Gore named in sex scandal
Portland police say they investigated allegations that former Vice President Al Gore had “unwanted sexual contact” with a massage therapist during an October 2006 visit, but they found insufficient evidence…
Obama fires McChrystal, appoints Petraeus
A senior administration official tells The Associated Press that President Barack Obama has accepted Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s resignation as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and is replacing him with…
McChrystal absent from Afghan briefing
An Afghanistan strategy session is under way at the White House as scheduled without word from President Barack Obama about the fate of war commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who is…
